Sports

[Spurt]

@gardenman

I always hated the pros against college all stars little time for continuity and always a smear game with the NFL pros winning. What I wanted to see was the pros versus the Ncaa College champion now that would be interesting

[teganslaw]

Alvin Kamara was arrested for battery resulting in "substantial bodily harm." Police were called to a hospital on Saturday about 5:50 P.M. where a person was suffering injuries allegedly from a bar fight. The suspect was later identified as Alvin Kamara, who was arrested Sunday and booked into jail on a $5,000 bond. He has a court hearing today. 

I bet that Sean Payton is glad he retired. This isn't a good way for a new coach to start out. 

[gardenman]

Coaches and GMs just cringe during the unsupervised time for players. The end of the season to the start of OTAs is a very scary time as the players tend to get into trouble. The same from the end of OTAs until training camp. Once you have them in the facility on a daily basis things settle down. When they're in the facility you can remind them constantly of the risks. When they're not in the facility, well temptation leads them astray.

Bars and clubs tend to be bad places for players. The local idiots will recognize them and try to make a name for themselves by going after the player. The smart players either walk away quickly and let the other guy "win" by you leaving, but some guys fight and that's never a good idea. Idiots will try to push the buttons of the player and then bad things happen.

Alvin Kamara won't be the only guy to get in trouble this offseason. He's just the first. The players almost never start the fights, but it doesn't matter. They take the heat. 

Micah Parsons is a guy to watch this offseason. He's got something of a bad reputation already, having started fights with teammates at Penn State.  He's going to be a big target for the local yokels and given his history, we might be hearing a similar story about him before too long. 

[teganslaw]

The Saints are hiring DC Dennis Allen as head coach. With Lovie Smith going to Houston, almost all the vacancies are filled. Since Allen already was with the Saints, he knows what to expect and most likely has plans on what to do going forward. 

[gardenman]

Barring any new vacancies popping up, Dennis Allen gets the last chair in the coaching musical chair game this year. Leftwich, Bieniemy, Flores and the rest are left out.

[gardenman]

Kind of an interesting series of coaching hires this year. The Saints and Texans decided, "Hey, we're paying this guy anyway, so why don't we make him the head coach?" and advanced assistants up to the head coaching chair. Two teams, the Giants and Raiders, opted to grab both a GM and head coach from a winning organization. "They know each other. Maybe this will work." (What are the odds that the best GM and best head coach candidate just happened to be on the same organization?)

Former head coaches got a second/third chance in Doug Pederson, Dennis Allen, Lovie Smith, and Josh McDaniels. Having the last name McDaniel/McDaniels seemed to help this year as two got hired. The Broncos decided, "We need Aaron Rodgers, so let's hire a coach he knows." The Bears have an up-and-coming (they hope) young QB so they hired a defensive-minded head coach to undermine him. 

Probably half of those hired this year will be out of a job in two or three years and will have left some ruined kids in their wake. I'm not sure just putting the names of head coaching candidates into a hat and drawing one might not be the best option. The success/failure rate couldn't be a whole lot worse than it is now.

Who do I think will have the most success of the nine new hires? Eh, hard to say. I think Doug Pederson could have the best short-term success. The Jags have a QB. They have cap space to get players. They have a lot of draft picks. Not a horrible spot to be in.

Josh McDaniels gets the chance to take over a playoff team (Raiders) which is pretty darn lucky on his part. That's a pretty sweet place to land. Just don't mess them up and things should be okay in spite of the coach. (And given the record of the Belichick tree of coaches, not messing things up could be an issue for him.)

The Vikings are hoping Kirk Cousins former QB coach from 2017 can revive him and make him competitive going forward by hiring Kevin O'Connell. The Vikings look to be on a downward spiral though. Not an ideal situation for a head coach.

The Broncos seem to be all-in on getting Aaron Rodgers. Good luck with that. Even if they do, I'm not sure how their long-term outlook is. 

The Saints are a trainwreck with pretty much nothing to build around. The Giants are in pretty much the same shape only they have two high first-round picks. The Dolphins, well, they're the Dolphins.

Josh McDaniels will likely be the most successful to start with as he's inheriting a playoff team. Doug Pederson will be successful for the short-term, but he can't wreck another franchise QB. The rest are in for a long, long season.

[Spurt]

@gardenman @teganslaw 

And there may be a change coming on the MNF booth when the new season begins..... The Steelers have interviewed ESPN's Louis Riddick for the GM position.....STAY TUNED!

His background---He was employed by two NFC East teams...Lou began to make a name for himself in 2001, he joined Washington as a pro scout. After four seasons, he was promoted to Washington’s director of pro personnel. Riddick spent three seasons in this role before leaving for the Philadelphia Eagles organization in 2008. There, Riddick spent one season as a scout. Then, another season as the assistant director of pro personnel before again being promoted to the director spot.

Riddick spent four seasons as the Eagles’ director of pro personnel before leaving to join ESPN.

Thanks to a wealth of knowledge and an accessible way of presenting it, Louis Riddick quickly became a fixture on ESPN’s NFL programming. His work included appearances on ESPN’s First Take, frequent spots with Ryan Clark and Sports Center and NFL Live.....Lou had interviewed a couple years back but didnt get the job and stuck with his TV gigs,but it looks like he's wanting to get back into NFL front office work instead...interesting???....

[Spurt]

@gardenman 

I'll be on the lookout for news on Parsons this offseason to see if he can stay out of trouble....I wonder if he will stick around the little D metroplex or go home to PA.....????

Gee I wonder if Washington will try to trade Chase Young he seems to be one of the few players that have spoken out on not liking the new Commander uniforms....😄😉

[gardenman]

@Spurt 

The Commanders had some tension on that d-line, but I doubt that they'll move Chase Young. Daron Payne is a whole different story. His rookie deal is nearly up and that fifth-year option gets pretty expensive for a DT. He'll want Jonathan Allen money and that's a lot to tie up in a d-line. And Sweat and Young are coming up for new deals soon. It's great having four stars on the d-line until you have to pay them. Then you start looking at the cap and wonder if it makes sense to pay those four guys a third of your cap.

[Spurt]

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@gardenman wrote:

@Spurt 

The Commanders had some tension on that d-line, but I doubt that they'll move Chase Young. Daron Payne is a whole different story. His rookie deal is nearly up and that fifth-year option gets pretty expensive for a DT. He'll want Jonathan Allen money and that's a lot to tie up in a d-line. And Sweat and Young are coming up for new deals soon. It's great having four stars on the d-line until you have to pay them. Then you start looking at the cap and wonder if it makes sense to pay those four guys a third of your cap.

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@gardenman 

I was just kidding about Chase, but then again with Daniel Snyder ya never know 🤔..even though Tanya is supposed to be the one in charge, ya right.....🙄

Yep, they talked about moving Payne before and after that little "incident" with Allen I have a feeling they could pull a deal especially if they are serious about trying to get a better QB Payne could be lumped in with some draft picks........